1.Everyone shall possess the right to freely express and publicise his thoughts in words, images or by any other means, as well as the right to inform others, inform himself and be informed without hindrance or discrimination
2.Exercise of the said rights shall not be hindered or limited by any type or form of censorship
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Article 37.º

The Portuguese journalists are ruled by an Ethics Code that they approved on the 4th of May, 1993, within a consultation that covered all the professionals that hold a Professional Card. The project’s text had been subject to a preliminary discussion and was approved in a General Assembly that took place on the 22nd of March, 1993.

1. The journalist shall report the facts with rigour and exactness and interpret them with honesty. The facts shall be proved, hearing the parties that have a right interest in the case. The distinction between news and opinion shall be made very clear to the eyes of the public.

2. The journalist shall combat censorship and sensationalism and consider accusation without evidence and plagiarism as serious professional errors.

3. The journalist shall fight against restrictions in the access to information sources, and any attempts to limit freedom of expression and the right to inform. It is the journalist’s obligation to divulge any offences against these rights.

4. The journalist shall use loyal means to obtain information, images or documents, and forbid him/herself from abusing the good faith of whomever. The identification as a journalist is the rule, and other processes can only be justified out of motives of incontestable public interest.

5. The journalist shall assume all responsibility for all of his/her work and professional actions, as well as promote the immediate correction of information that is revealed as inexact or false. The journalist shall also refuse actions that abuse his/her conscience.

6. The journalist shall use the identification of sources as fundamental criterion. The journalist shall not reveal, even in court, his/her confidential information sources, nor disrespect the assumed compromises, except when there is an attempt to use him/her to channel false information. Opinions shall always be attributed.

7. The journalist shall safeguard the presumption of arguidos’ innocence until the sentence is definitely validated by a court. The journalist shall not identify, directly or indirectly, the victims of sexual crime and the underage criminals, and also shall prohibit him/herself from humiliating people or disturbing their pain.

8. The journalist shall reject discriminatory treatment of people according to their skin colour, race, religious beliefs, nationality or gender.

9. The journalist shall respect citizens’ privacy except when public interest is at stake or the person’s behaviour manifestly contradicts the values and principles that he/she publicly defends. The journalist obliges him/herself to respect the conditions of serenity, freedom and responsibility of the persons involved, before collecting statements and images.

10. The journalist shall refuse functions, jobs and benefits that are susceptible of compromising his/her independence status and his/her professional integrity. The journalist shall not use his/her professional condition to report on matters in which he/her have an interest.

British code of ethics for journalists:http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=174

Code of conductThe NUJ's Code of Conduct has set out the main principles of British and Irish journalism since 1936. It is part of the rules and all journalists joining the union must sign that they will strive to adhere to it.

Members of the National Union of Journalists are expected to abide by the following professional principles:

A journalist:

1. At all times upholds and defends the principle of media freedom, the right of freedom of expression and the right of the public to be informed

2. Strives to ensure that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair

3. Does her/his utmost to correct harmful inaccuracies

4. Differentiates between fact and opinion

5. Obtains material by honest, straightforward and open means, with the exception of investigations that are both overwhelmingly in the public interest and which involve evidence that cannot be obtained by straightforward means

6. Does nothing to intrude into anybody’s private life, grief or distress unless justified by overriding consideration of the public interest

7. Protects the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her/his work

8. Resists threats or any other inducements to influence, distort or suppress information

9. Takes no unfair personal advantage of information gained in the course of her/his duties before the information is public knowledge

10. Produces no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age, gender, race, colour, creed, legal status, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation

11. Does not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse by advertisement any commercial product or service save for the promotion of her/his own work or of the medium by which she/he is employed

12. Avoids plagiarism.

The NUJ believes a journalist has the right to refuse an assignment or be identified as the author of editorial that would break the letter or spirit of the code. The NUJ will fully support any journalist disciplined for asserting her/his right to act according to the code.

In view of comments 2 and 3, what about getting two (or more) journalists from both Portugal and Britain/England to discuss their processes, their freedoms and resctrictions? These obviously are impacting heavily in the McCann case.